The Old Ways:
Kupalnocka
Close your eyes for a moment and call up an image of Midsummer’s night. If you are anything like me, swirling colors of green, gold, brown, and shimmery glitter cascade down over a scene straight out of Shakespeare’s play of foolish lovers and merrymaking in the forest. There is music, dancing, bonfires, and freely flowing honey wine, all in a flutter of fairy wings. If you reach your hand out, it will be clasped and in you will be pulled, leaping over fires, tasting ripe fruit, and filled up with revelry. Many Pagans celebrate Midsummer by honoring the sun god’s strength as he fills the day with light. But in Slavic countries, particularly Poland, where the holiday is called Wianki or Kupalnocka, and Lithuania, where the holiday is known as Kupolinėmis or Rasos, Midsummer is a time to honor the God and Goddess, Sun and Moon. Midsummer is also akin to the West’s Valentine’s Day.
In old Lithuania, there is a song that tells the story of how the Moon was once married to the Sun. The Moon was the god aspect and the Sun was the Goddess. They married at spring and by the summer solstice, Moon had betrayed Sun and left with Dawn, or the Morning Star. Sun’s father was the thunder god, Perkurnas, and he avenged his daughter by splitting their union in half, and Moon fled into the night. They forever reflect each other even if they are no longer together. Sun and Dawn continue their battle, tempers fueling even stronger on the summer solstice as the longest day and shortest night. So when the sun sets, the night is lit up in flame with bonfires and paper lanterns. In this way, Sun reminds Moon that she is still here, still angry, but still longing for him.
The Polish holiday Kupalnocka means “Kupala Night,” and it was a time to honor the goddess Kupala, who governed herbs, water, love, magic, and sex. If one bathed in the waters of Kupala, he or she would find their illnesses cured and their strength restored. The herb most sacred to Kupala was purple loosestrife. It was believed the roots had the power to banish demons if gathered on the summer solstice. In Lithuania, nine herbs were collected, specifically wormwood, mugwort, heartsease, chamomile, lavender, purple centuary, cinquefoil, flathead, and arnica. They were gathered into bouquets called kupolėmis that were believed to hold magical properties. Tradition dictated that all herbs must be collected before midnight, as they would lose their magical potency after that. One of the most important rituals of the solstice was to look for the magical fern flower that bloomed only at midnight on Kupalnocka. To gaze upon the fern flower would bring great fortune, power, and wisdom. In some Slavic countries, couples would head forth into the forest to search for the sacred fern. There are some who believe that the “fern flower” was euphemism for coupling, another aspect of the goddess Kupala.
Similar to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Kupalnocka has been considered a night full of magic and mischief, when fairies, imps, and other mystical creatures roam freely, looking to delight or fright those celebrating. Due to this, it was integral to pay homage to all the sprites, dryads, and sylphs lest they be angered and the harvest season run afoul.
Another way to show honor to Kupala was by making wreaths of the nine sacred herbs and throwing them over the “heads” of apple, birch, or willow trees. The amount of times one made the throw would determine how much longer they had to wait until marriage. There are more Lithuanian traditions of wreaths and water in Llewellyn’s 2015 Sabbats Almanac for further study.
Not to be left out, the Polish have their own wreath traditions. Another name for Kupalnocka is Wianki, which translates to “wreath.” It was common for young girls to wear wreaths made of flowers and herbs throughout the summer solstice rituals. At riverbeds, they would attach candles to the wreaths and set them afloat. As flowers and herbs are sacred to many summer spirits, it was customary to toss them into the rivers and creeks to gain the good graces of the water spirits.
Honoring Kupala’s water incarnation was even more significant along the Polish seashore. Here, people made their living off of the ocean and it was imperative to gain the blessings of the water goddess before the summer season set in. Polish fishermen and fisherwomen would weave the sacred herbs through their nets and strew them across their boats in the hope that the Goddess would give them calm seas for fishing.
Like Moon has Sun, water has fire, and many other countries across Europe celebrated the solstice holiday chiefly with fire. Bonfires burned on hills and in clearings as the sun set and night waltzed in. There was much merrymaking, feasting, singing, and dancing to be had. People had fun teasing one another with riddles and calling out improbable love matches, according to Hodorowicz Knab. Of course, they also suggested couples that were known to fancy each other. It was believed if these couples clasped hands and leapt over the bonfire still holding hands, they would soon be married.
Kupala made her appearance here too. Men and women would leap over the bonfire dragging with them a straw effigy in honor of the goddess. The following day, the figure was dressed in a white gown with herbs and flowers woven through the straw and fabric. She was hung from a tree to form a kind of wood nymph or spirit of the forest. Charged with three of the four elements, she was then released into a river to float downstream taking all of the evils away from the community.
The bonfires also held a practical purpose. They appeased the sun and fire gods and goddesses and ensured a good harvest. It was believed that the fields would be protected as far as the smoke from the fires traveled. Garlands of flowers and herbs were thrown into the fires to protect the bearers from ill fortune for the upcoming twelve months.
Consider bringing some of Kupalnocka into your Midsummer celebration. Plan a date with your significant other and honor romance on this Slavic Valentine’s Day. Together or on your own, consider building a small fire and effigy of Kupala that is complete with a mini-wreath made of the nine herbs. Pass her through the flames and smoke and then press her into the ground. Whisper in her ear all that you would like to release from your life. Complete the honoring of the elements by releasing the effigy into water. And then return to your Midsummer revelries. Dance and make merry!
Bibliography
Dixon-Kennedy, Mike. Encyclopedia of Russian & Slavic Myth and Legend. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO INC., 1998.
Hodorowicz Knab, Sophie. Polish Customs, Traditions, & Folklore. New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., 1993.
Monaghan, Patricia. Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines, Revised. San Francisco: New World Library, 2014.
“Old Lithuanian Songs,” Majzooban-e Noor, accessed Sept. 18, 2015. http://www.majzooban.org/en/articles/28-old-lithuanian-songs.html.